Steve Jobs: Master of the Press Conference

Somehow it seems derisive to call what Apple does every few months press conferences, or product launches. They're more like happenings... or great parties...or a Broadway show it's impossible to get tickets for. They're carefully designed to make you wish you were there, to hang on Steve Jobs' every word. Other companies should take note: this is how you release a new product. It's a masterful mix of personality (Jobs), impeccably-designed products, demoes that usually work, celebrities, and suspense - Apple always saves the coolest announcement for last.

Spin Magazine has a report from today's iPod event, where Jobs unveiled the new iTunes mobile phone from Motorola. Here's a link to the video.

Jobs says they've sold 500 million songs so far through the iTunes Music Store; 1.8 million more every day. iTunes has 82 percent market share in the U.S. They've got 10 million customer accounts on iTunes - all of those attached to credit cards. The average account has purchased about 60 songs. "As far as we can tell, Apple may be the second largest Internet store, behind only Amazon," Jobs says.

What happens when Apple unveils a mobile video player, and starts selling videos to those 10 million people? I think they're gonna be the player to beat.